


something there that wasn't there before

by georgiehensley



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Animals, Ducks, During Canon, F/M, Fluff, Gentleness, Other, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8106613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgiehensley/pseuds/georgiehensley
Summary: it’s an unusual sight in the dead of winter - ducklings, waddling around in their little niche, seeming lost as they’re so far from their lake home. but they aren’t lost at this very moment. no, instead they’ve found their mother, and decided to follow her - or so they think.

or, the one where a family of ducklings mistakes belle for their mother, so she decides to help them get back home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i've never written a batb fic before, but i've seen the movie enough times to, hopefully, have the characterization down. also, i wrote this with the live-action cast members in mind, not that it matters, really.
> 
> ([insp](http://trippsykes.tumblr.com/post/150735214546/copperpossem-imagine-your-icon-getting-followed).)

it’s an unusual sight in the dead of winter - ducklings, waddling around in their little niche, seeming lost as they’re so far from their lake home. but they aren’t lost at this very moment. no, instead they’ve found their mother, and decided to follow her - or so they think.

“oh! i’m not your mother.” belle says as she bends down, looking at the five ducklings who stand in front of her. she giggles at the sight, before contemplating her next move.

“come along now,” she says. “let’s get you back home.” she stands at full height again, smiling as two ducklings bump into each other whilst they let out high little quacks, sorting themselves into a line. belle then turns and begins to walk, hearing the ducklings following behind her.

from a distance, adam watches, amazed by belle’s gentleness with the small birds, guiding them along as opposed to kicking them away like he would have done, too ashamed of his beastly appearance to want any living thing looking his way. chances are the ducklings wouldn’t even follow him, instead run away in fear of this ginormous beast, only to be even more lost.

suddenly, he finds himself following as well - from a distance, of course - too curious to see where exactly belle is taking the ducklings, as he doesn’t recall seeing a lake anywhere near the castle - and it would be frozen over, anyway.

to his surprise, though, belle does find one - he must have failed to notice it after all his years spent trapped within the confines of his own home. it is frozen, as expected, but a larger, adult duck sits on the opposite side, only to try and waddle towards the middle when she sees her children.

now kneeling in the snow, belle smiles, glancing back down at the ducklings. gently, she gives the first one a push, guiding him in the direction of his real mother, watching as the two happily reunite.

she does the same for the others, but the fifth one won’t budge. this confuses belle, and adam too - though his secrecy is broken when a gust of wind blows by, causing him to shiver and sneeze, the sound startling both belle and the ducks.

though, when she glances his way, belle only smiles, causing adam to lose sense of the cold air that surrounds him.

“come here,” belle says, and adam finds himself complying, kneeling just a foot away from her, blaming it on needing the warmth. she quickly averts his attention to the duckling standing in the snow. “this little guy won’t reunite with his mother. do you mind helping give him a little push?”

adam’s eyes widened in response to her question, shaking his head, hoping she’ll get his unspoken argument of the duckling being afraid of him. she only stares at him further, gaze not intense or firm, but gentle, and now finding himself unable to say no to her, adam reluctantly nods, reaching towards the little duckling.

“come here, little guy.” he tries to say as gently as he can. to his surprise, the duckling actually does go forward, towards adam’s fur-covered hand. adam’s shock must be evident on his face, because when he glances over at belle, he finds her smiling at him, teeth visible and oh-so white and bright.

adam picks up the little guy then, leaning over the frozen lake and placing him down on the ice, giving him a soft nudge in the direction of his family. the duckling only turns and begins to head back in the direction of adam, until the mother loudly quacks, forcing the duckling’s attention to be on her. now he begins to waddle in her direction, much to the satisfaction of both belle and adam.

“i thought he’d be afraid of me.” adam says now, still in shock after the whole thing. belle only shakes her head.

“why would he be?” she asks, pushing herself to her feet. “you’re nothing but a big, sweet puppy.” as she heads back in the direction of the castle, she lets her fingers lightly run through adam’s fur, causing him to feel a warmth take over once again, only now more in his chest than anywhere else. he glances back and watches her go, a small smile of his own beginning to appear on his face. _she’s different,_  he thinks, adding a few moments later, _i like different._


End file.
